A successor to NSCAT, the SeaWinds scatterometer was a specialized microwave radar that measured near-surface wind velocity (both speed and direction) under all weather and cloud conditions over Earth's oceans.

Quick Facts:

Type: Instrument

Launch Date: December 14, 2002

Launch Location: Japan's Tanegashima Space Center

Target: Earth

Status: Past (Mission ended on October 24, 2003 due to a solar panel failure.)